Cuomo Not Interested In ‘Bailing Out’ Casinos

Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters at the Capitol he’s not interested in “bailing out” financially struggling upstate gaming casinos. This comes in response to a request to the state from del Lago Casino in the Finger Lakes for assistance.

The casino said it wasn’t able to meet projections in its first year of operation because of an uneven playing field which didn’t exist when it won its gaming license. Specifically, it pointed out Seneca Nation-operated facilities, which is not currently paying the state while a dispute is arbitrated, are using the windfall to lure customers away from del Lago.

The governor doesn’t appear to be buying the argument,.

“The upstate gaming casinos are private concerns. They bid. They made an investment and some of them will say they’re not doing as well as they hoped or would’ve expected but they’re private concerns,” Cuomo said.

He said the state has allowed new casinos gaming facilities to generate economic development and create jobs which it has done.

“These facilities have done billions of dollars of construction and they employ thousands of people so to the extent you have a casino saying, well you know what, I don’t think my expectations, I’m not meeting my expectations, I should get help from the state, I’m not sympathetic to that,” he said.

Many Upstate Republicans in the state Senate have been vocal in their opposition to a bailout as well, including Senator Joe Griffo, R-Rome, and Mike Ranzenhofer, R-Amherst, both of whom penned letters to Cuomo about their concerns.

This entry was posted by Ryan Whalen on March 28, 2018 at 2:56 pm, and is filed under 2018, Andrew Cuomo, Gaming. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.